Gear Impressions
I'll echo the thanks to Larry the reliable HeadphoneAddict for listening to a lot more gear than I did, because I just didn't have much motivation to go around and hear everything in the room. There was too much gear for that without everything turning into a fuzzy memory in my head.
And I'm just going to put this bluntly for the folks asking for impressions: no offense, but there really weren't that many Head-Fiers at the show, and the ones who were didn't exactly go around the room reporter-style to get coverage for Head-Fiers to read. So don't be discouraged if HPA and I are the only ones who provide any sort of extensive impressions to read. It was a huge room packed with vendors that would've needed at least 3 more reliable Head-Fiers (if not more) to cover everything in the room that most folks would want to know about.
The only thing I can recommend for folks who want to know about the rest of the gear at the show is to wait for the coverage from Tyll at InnerFidelity, and to get out to a show like this (or meet) for yourself. As much as I recommend attending RMAF, it's not the only place where headphones can be heard - local meets regularly happen arond the world, just check the Meets forum to see if one is coming up in your area, or even better organize one!
Finally, the pace at a show like this is so chaotic that it's next to impossible for anyone to do a direct X/Y product comparison without ambient noise or other people interfering, and even then, the only comparisons that can really be made are headphones vs other headphones, not amps or DACs. Simply for that reason, I purposely skipped over most amp or DAC vendors, because there was no way I was going to get anything useful out of a demo. For example, I skipped over the Schiit gear on purpose - not that I was disinterested in their gear, because I was actually highly interested, but more because there was no way I was going to get anything useful in a noisy room with an unfamiliar DAC and amp. In order to be fair to the Schiit gear, I'd have to get it in my home where it's quiet and I can concentrate.
This isn't all of my impressions btw and more will be posted later, along with pics.
V-Moda M-100: I've been reading the hype-train thread on these headphones in the Portable Headphones forum, and these have caught my eye ever since they were announced. I previously owned the M-80 and wrote a mini-review of it (can be found here: http://www.head-fi.org/t/587296/mini-review-v-moda-m-80-vs-audio-technica-es7).
So I'll cut to the chase: these were awesome, easily one of the best-value closed headphones I've ever heard, which is a lot! I heard the M-100 on 3 setups: at the V-Moda table (sourced out of an iPhone & dock, I think), out of my own MP3 player (iAudio X5), and over at the Moon Audio table, sourced by the Stello CDT100 CDP & Fostex HP-A8 amp. Granted, I thought it was a little less awesome on my MP3 player, so I suspect the M-100 probably needs at least a little amp power to sound good, more than directly out of a DAP's headphone jack.
Honestly I could definitely nitpick if I wanted to, because sonically it wasn't a complete hit for me, but that would probably give the wrong impression. For $300, the M-100 is a great, fantastic headphone, and practically the "best in show" in the room! They're a definite must-buy and I'll almost definitely be buying a pair myself when they come out! They had good clarity, strong deep bass, and a very good assertive sound that really worked well for electronica, metal, and pop/rock, yet still were balanced enough for some classical music too. It's hard to find a great-sounding closed headphone, especially under $500 because so many are just not very good, but the M-100 took the cake. I loved it and I can't think of a good reason for anyone else to not buy it.
Fostex TH900: I listened to Moon Audio's pair of these, from the same Stello CDT100 & Fostex HP-A8 setup as the M-100, so I actually went back and forth between the TH900 and M-100 quite a few times on various CD tracks.
Although the M-100 became my new favorite budget closed headphone, I have to hand out an even bigger award to the TH900, because these blew my mind!
I refused to believe the hype train on these headphones at first, but now I'm a convert, because they were some of the best dynamic headphones that I've ever heard, seriously. And the fact that they're closed is just icing on the cake, because most of the dynamic flagships are open designs. Though they didn't isolate that much, they didn't seem to leak much either, which was nice.
How to describe the sound of the TH900? I'd call it a close dynamic equivalent of the Stax SR-007A (OII MKI). I swore it got closer to the OII MKI than any other headphone that I've heard, and there were times it sounded spookily like the OII. Very natural-sounding, very balanced, and very "smooth", with very nice deep bass, enough that it actually satisfied for electronica. They did extremely well with just about every genre I threw at them from metal to jazz, classical to electronica, bluegrass to rock - so well that I couldn't believe it. I'm especially critical with classical music, but these handled the sound of a violin nearly perfectly, almost as well as the OII! They were literally like a dynamic OII to me - with nearly the same level of finesse for classical & jazz, yet perfectly capable of rocking out a bit to death and power metal (In Flames & Helloween).
The TH900 is my new favorite pair of high-end closed headphones! I'm now compelled to buy one for myself as part of my dynamic system, and I think if I'd never heard the OII/BHSE, it could easily be my final system too! In fact, one need not bother with a high-end electrostatic system with the TH900 - it's really almost as good, for less! What's not to like? And they were extremely comfortable to wear too, with very supple earpads. It was like wearing [censored] on my ears!
Denon AH-D7100: Moon Audio had these headphones at their table too, so I checked them out on the Stello/Fostex gear. Let's just say that these were vastly underwhelming after the TH900, and if anyone asked me to put a price on them based on the sound, I'd say $500 tops! The $1.2K MSRP is outrageous for something that was so tonally weird, it actually reminded me of Audio-Technica woodies. The bass was also extremely muddy & uncontrolled - my standard battery of electronica overloaded its bass response so much, it was ludicrous. It also enhanced nasal/reedy characteristics, and the treble - well, it sucked. It was rolled off way too much. I can't believe Denon thinks a $1.2K headphone can get away with this kind of sound, it was that pathetic.
If we ignore the price, I'd put the D7100 in my below-average ranking, which usually includes <$300 headphones! Heck, my average ranking includes the K70x and HD600/HD650, which I think are better-sounding!
And my criticisms don't end with the sound. This headphone had next to no swivel either, so it fit very loosely.
Sony MDR-1R: I admit, I snuck these away from Jude when he wasn't looking! (They were his pair that he brought.) They were pretty good - fairly well balanced with solid bass, which I always look for in closed headphones. Good clarity, etc. I listened to them mostly on my MP3 player, which I had to turn up the volume for a lot, so they clearly weren't that efficient and would probably benefit from a real amp. I also briefly tested them on the HeadAmp Pico Power, which went better for them.
Interesting headphones but I'd need another listening session to really comment further, as they sorta got lost in my memory with all of the other headphones that I heard.
Ultimate Ears UERM & UE18: As an owner of the JH13, I don't need another custom IEM unless it breaks (or gets lost, or whatever else), but I checked out the UERM anyway since I've read good things about it. And the UERM sounded awesome on my MP3 player - maybe more awesome than the JH13? I wasn't sure if it was more neutral, but I will say that it sounded a lot like the JH13 with maybe more clarity, though I couldn't tell for sure.
The UE18 clearly had a different sound signature with more bass impact and maybe more aggressive treble. Might be fun for certain types of music but it wasn't really for me.
MrSpeakers Mad Dog (modded Fostex T50RP): I first heard about "MrSpeakers" headphones from the guest list of this year's LAX summer meet (which I didn't attend but almost did) and have been moderately interested in hearing a modded pair of the Fostex T50RP (which I've also read a lot about). His "Mad Dog" headphones were pretty good overall - very good clarity, solid bass, good treble. However, these were the first headphones I really sat down to listen to at the show, and I never got around to listening again after I heard the M-100 and TH900 to put them in perspective. They did seem to be good bang for buck, but as for a comparison vs the M-100, I can't offer anything on sound. They were physically larger than the M-100 though, so less ideal for travelers or commuters, but probably good for home/office.
HeadAmp - Pico Power & SR-007/BHSE/BDP-95: I never really gave the Pico Power a formal listening test, but as a HeadAmp fan & loyal customer, I can say that it had excellent build quality and was heavier than it looked (I thought it'd be more light-weight than it was). I did use it a couple of times during RMAF to test out other headphones not at HeadAmp's table because I know HeadAmp's products to typically have transparent signatures. Though not really interested in portable-type amps myself, I'm sure it's a great amp for those who want something small.
And in the days leading up to RMAF, I listened to my BHSE w/ KT77s a lot to get familiar with it, so I could find out how the Oppo BDP-95 stacked up against my Plinius CD-101 (and decide if I ever want to get it as a back-up CDP). The OII/BHSE still sounded great on the BDP-95, but it was clear that it just wasn't as awesome as my Plinius. Though this sounds vague, it just had "soft edges" and lacked sharpness and a tight, accelerated drive. It seemed a bit lifeless in comparison. Still very good, but just not very "hi-fi-ish" compared to what I'm used to.
Sennheiser HD700: I checked these out at the Senn table (where they were amped by the HDVA 600) to confirm my impressions from the THE Show Newport Beach earlier this year, and it was clear that they were still average-sounding. Nothing about them made them stand out in the sea of headphones at the show - they lacked bass & treble power and clarity, and there was really nothing particularly noteworthy about the mid-range. IMO the $1K price is excessive and for less money I'd recommend the Shure SRH1840 instead, or even the classic HD600.
Shure SRH1440: I previously owned the SRH1840, so I had to know how these were different, except they didn't really seem that different on an informal listening session. If they had more mid-range, I didn't really notice. Like the SRH1840 though, they lacked low bass quantity and were rolled off, so not really ideal for electronica for me. I guess it's probably a decent inexpensive versatile headphone though.
Audeze LCD-3: With the sheer number of LCD-3s at the show, I checked out multiple pairs at different vendors' tables to find out if their amps would transform the LCD-3 for me. None of them did. Not that I think the LCD-3 is bad, but for me it's really not that awesome. Though I class it as "above average", there are just too many issues that I have with it, not the least of which is its insufferable lack of clarity and overbearing clamping pressure.
For nearly the same price as the LCD-3, I'd much rather own the Fostex TH900, which I thought was vastly superior.
